THE intensity of the debate in Spain about the Catalan statute of autonomy had been a cause of concern over the past few weeks. Especially since General José Mena Aguado’s statement in Seville on 6 January: “It is our duty to warn of the serious consequences that the approval of the Catalan statute, in the terms in which it is drafted, could bring, both for the armed forces as an institution and for the people who make up the armed forces.” He pointed out that, under article 8 of the Spanish (...)

The recent meeting between the US vice-president, Dick Cheney, and Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah confirmed the solid relations between Riyadh and Washington. Most Saudis, however, care more about the situation at home, under a new ruler who claims to want to change society and the role of women, to combat poverty and to promote greater freedom.

Hamas’ landslide win at the Palestinian elections on 25 January has been greeted with indignant warnings and commentaries from the United States and the European Union, including France. We need to put this event in context.

Zacarias Moussaoui will go on trial in the US in March for conspiracy to commit acts of terrorism; these carry the death penalty. He has been detained since the 9/11 attacks, in which he claims he took no part.

US president George Bush, meeting the German chancellor, Angela Merkel, who believes that the Guantánamo detention centre must cease to exist in the long term, invoked the war against terror and claimed the centre necessary for the protection of US citizens.

Evo Morales and his Movement Towards Socialism still have plenty of opponents in and out of Bolivia: the separatist white elite in the rich oil and gas regions, army factions, multinationals, and the government of the United States.

Socialist president Michelle Bachelet will inherit a strong economy, a lively democracy - and a constitution that does not recognise the country as a multi-ethnic society whose indigenous peoples lack rights.

The UN General Assembly has condemned the United States embargo on Cuba 14 times. The US also supports various illicit acts committed against Cuba in contravention of international law. This has been made explicit by the trial of five Cubans in Florida.

Many thought that Azerbaijan would be next to overthrow its president in a revolution. They were wrong: supporters of President Ilham Aliev swept the board in recent parliamentary elections. The quasi-dynastic regime survives thanks to repression, nationalism and oil money.

Two powerful images recently symbolised the way in which social deprivation feeds fear and intolerance: desperate would-be immigrants from the African continent hurled themselves at barbed wire surrounding the Spanish enclaves of Ceuta and Melilla on the north coast of Morocco, while racial tensions set off riots in Sydney in Australia.